“It was a very anticlimactic reaction,” McDonald admitted to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I looked at it, and I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ and I exited out.

“I really stand by what I’ve said in previous interviews: I feel right now that I’m ready to fight anybody in the world. I really will accept whoever they put in front of me, no matter who it is. I feel like I’m ready, skill-wise, to take on anybody they put in front of me, and if that’s who they’re talking about, then that’s cool.”

McDonald has moved quickly up the UFC ranks, notching four wins in his first 13 months in the promotion. His most recent appearance was at this past April’s UFC 145 event, where he earned a spectacular knockout of former WEC champ Miguel Torres.

Two months after that outing, McDonald went in for a surgical repair of his ailing right hand.

“I don’t know all the technical terms, but there is like a web of tendons that goes over the knuckles, and in between my ring finger and my middle finger on my right hand, I split that web in between those two knuckles,” McDonald explained. “So every time I would make a fist, the protective film over my knuckles would roll over and expose my middle knuckle. Every time I was punching, there was no protectant over it. It was just bone and skin.

“I had a lot of scar tissue. It was just huge and disgusting, and it would swell up like crazy after every fight, and I couldn’t punch very hard at all. So they took a tendon out of my wrist, and they sewed up that hole.”

McDonald said he has been focused on rehab since the surgery, and while it was difficult to stay on the sidelines with the momentum his career was enjoying, he knows it was the right decision.

“It was difficult, but I think it had its benefits, for sure,” McDonald said. “I haven’t had a lot of real vacation time. Plus, every single fight I’ve had in the UFC, I’ve had with this busted hand. I’ve never been able to train the way I wanted to train. I’ve always been hindered.

“I haven’t been able to hit a heavy bag in two years. There’s been a lot of things I haven’t been able to do. The only time I’d be able to do push-ups is when I had boxing gloves on. My wrist was screwed up from punching people, and I couldn’t do them on my knuckles because of my knuckle. I also had a shoulder injury, so this is probably the first time I’ve been healthy in about two-and-a-half years.”

Despite White’s statements, McDonald said he has yet to be contacted by the promotion and still does not know when he’ll next compete. Still, he’s resuming fight training this week and says he could be ready to fight as soon as late January.

“There’s nothing on the books, but we’re just excited that I’m healthy enough and that everything is ready that I’m going to start fight training at a comfortable pace, and I’m going to start getting ready for whatever the call will be,” McDonald said.

Should it be Barao, McDonald would be looking at an opportunity to make history as the youngest champion in UFC history, even if it would be as a title holder of the interim variety. Of course, the Brazilian’s 29-fight win streak is proof that he’ll provide a stern test. However, McDonald said he’s studied the Brazilian in recent months and feels he’s ready for the challenge.

“I don’t study my opponents the same way a lot of people do,” McDonald said. “A lot of people study their opponent to a T, and they customize their entire camp around that person. Then they basically customize themselves and their strategy and their tactics to their opponent. I do not. I don’t like going away from myself and what has gotten me here. I think that more than anything I need to be me. That’s what got me here so far.

“For instance, I’m not going to turn into a straight wrestler. If I need to supplement something for me, then that’s fine, but bottom line is I’m a striker and a jiu-jitsu fighter, and I’m going to keep it the way I’ve kept every single fight. It’s going to be the same story as ever, just with a few small details I see. To me, it’s not even so much about customizing myself to an opponent. It’s more on the lines of, ‘Have I figured them out yet?'”

While he waits for his phone to ring, the humble Californian said he’s enjoying time in his woodshop, where he’s recently created several ornate cutting boards for friends, family and a few lucky Twitter followers and is now focused on crafting a few Christmas presents. “Mayday” said he’s excited to see what the future brings, but he’s also committed to remaining a complete person outside of the cage.

“I fight the best when I’m happy and when I’m enjoying my life,” McDonald said. “I really, truly try to make it a point not to let this whole fighting thing consume me and to still be me and do my hobbies and still find time to get into the wood shop and spend time with my family and my girlfriend and my friends.

“The ultimate goal for me is to stay happy while doing this because when I’m happy, I love to train. Everything just flows together perfectly, and I perform better when I’m happy. That’s the ultimate goal for me in the near future. I’m just a normal guy trying to make a living like everybody else, and this is what I’ve got to do to do it.”

Of course, when the UFC does call, McDonald said he will accept the offer, no matter how daunting.

“First and foremost, I’ve been recovering from my surgery on my hand, which has been going great,” McDonald said. “I’m training full-speed right now and getting ready for whatever the UFC calls me for.”

For the latest on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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